Written by:	Promonex
Published:	December 24, 2010
Event:	Amorphis: Forging Europe Tour Pt. II (Website)
Location:	Colos-Saal, Aschaffenburg, Germany
Galleries:	Amorphis + Orphaned Land: Forging Europe Tour Pt. II - Aschaffenburg, Germany, 14 November 2010 by Promonex (36)

About a month after attending the Epica tour in my favourite venue I was again to visit the Colos-Saal in Aschaffenburg, Germany. Today's menu was almost tastier than the Epica package (musically speaking, not optically): Amorphis were touring Europe for the second time in support of their latest album Skyforger, but this time also with their new compilation Magic & Mayhem: Tales from the Early Years under their belt - a varied setlist seemed to be guaranteed. They were supported by Israeli prog metal phenomenon Orphaned Land and Finnish up-and-comers Ghost Brigade. Considering this brilliant constellation it was no surprise that the Colos-Saal was sold out again, even though a new week would start the next day.

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Ghost Brigade were the openers of the night and tried to entangle the audience in their bleak and melancholic brand of Finnish metal. Last time I had seen them, exactly 365 days earlier on their tour with Paradise Lost and Samael, they easily achieved this goal by creating an immensely dense atmosphere and made headliners Paradise Lost look like amateurs. This time however there was no atmosphere coming across at all. This might also be due to the warmth in the sold-out venue, which just wasn't the best canvas for the coldness of their music to unfold. Other members of the audience even went as far as sensing the Ghosts' performance as arrogant: almost no light, almost no movement and the grim face of guitarist Wille Naukkarinen made the impression as though the band wanted to detach itself from the audience. For many others Ghost Brigade's formula of soft clean vocals, fierce harsh vocals and profound song structures in a low-key performance seemed to work very well though and was rewarded by plenty of applause.

Setlist: Deliberately, My Heart Is a Tomb, Into the Black Light, Lost in a Loop, Suffocated, 22:22 - Nihil, A Storm Inside

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Coming up next were Orphaned Land, and the crowd response made it obvious that many people were here mainly for the Israeli band. Their progressive metal meets oriental sounds hybrid might have taken some time to convince the rest of the audience as well, but after a while almost everyone was cheering and clapping along. The band also seemed to have a lot of fun, at least guitarist Yossi Saharon was grinning ALL the time and singer Kobi Farhi was interacting a lot with the crowd. Unfortunately the same old "I'm not Jesus!" joke was part of his routine, which he has been pulling at (almost?) every gig in the past few months. Seriously man, it's getting ooooold!



But apart from this little annoyance the show was top-notch. The overall sound was just perfect and a lot heavier than the last time I've seen them, so that a lot of the band's energy came across and infected everyone in the room. Especially during "Sapari", the opening track of their newest album The Neverending Way of ORwarriOR, people were jumping and singing along, at least at the beginning. After a while only three rows, one transverse and two longitudinal, kept jumping along, which looked more like a Bomberman explosion pattern than anything else. The rest of the setlist was more on the progressive side until the band finished the set with the crowd pleaser "Norra El Norra", about two hours too early for my taste. For me they were the secret headliners of the night due to the brilliant sound and the boundless enthusiasm emanated by the band.

Setlist (order?): In Thy Never Ending Way, Barakah, Sapari, Birth of the Three, Olat Ha'tamid, From Broken Vessels, Ocean Land, The Kiss of Babylon, Norra El Norra

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Finally the headliners of the night took the stage. Amorphis is a band with a varied history, from their beginnings as a death metal band over folk-influenced melodic death metal to the progressively tinged melodic metal of the recent years. On stage this was displayed by the backdrop of their latest album Skyforger and two flags bearing the cover of the band's newest compilation Magic & Mayhem: Tales from the Early Years. And with five songs from Skyforger and five songs from said compilation the setlist indeed covered most of the band's history.

But let's start at the beginning. The band was euphorically welcomed by the audience and started right off with a few songs from Skyforger, namely the title track, "Sky Is Mine" and the ballad "From the Heaven of My Heart." Singer Tomi Joutsen with his hair-dryer for a mic was the star of the show with his grandiose clean vocals, but the rare growls sounded absolutely tremendous, so that one could only look forward to the songs from their back catalogue. Most people were enjoying themselves already and I was surprised to see how many people were singing along to the songs from their newest album which, despite being relatively shallow in my opinion, has been gleefully embraced by almost everybody in the room.



At this point Tomi remarked that it felt like a Finnish sauna in the sold-out venue. To the regret of the ladies in the room (and to the comfort of the other half of the attendees) he didn't get rid of his clothes though, but started the journey into the past. After "The Smoke", from the band's first release with current singer Tomi Joutsen, Amorphis finally played the first song with only growls, namely "Song of the Troubled One" from their Elegy album. And as mentioned before these growls were absolutely divine! After a short intermission (dubbed "Karelia" on the setlist) it was time for the mighty "Exile of the Sons of Uisliu" from their debut album The Karelian Isthmus. I was anxious to see how all the Skyforger worshippers in the crowd would respond to the songs from Amorphis' early days and as expected the reactions were very restrained. I however was happy with the temporary shift of music to more extreme soundscapes and rather sad when they returned to the more recent years again afterwards. After another four songs from the last decade they finally played the all-time favourite "Black Winter Day" from the Tales from a Thousand Lakes album to a happy audience and disappeared from the stage afterwards.

Setlist: Skyforger, Sky Is Mine, From the Heaven of My Heart, Better Unborn, The Smoke, Song of the Troubled One, Exile of the Sons of Uisliu, Silent Waters, Alone, My Sun, Silver Bride, Black Winter Day



Of course people were wanting more and it didn't take long before their shouts for an encore triggered the intro of the next song. The band stayed on the same side of the extremity spectrum at first with "Into Hiding", also from the Tales album. The following "House of Sleep" had everyone in the room singing again, confirming the impression I had from the crowd. But then again, it is an awesome song! And finally both parties, fans of the extreme and those of the melodic incarnation of the band were reconciled when Amorphis closed the night with the folky, yet growled "My Kantele."

Encore: Into Hiding, House of Sleep, My Kantele



So after Amorphis finished their awesome set, Orphaned Land and Ghost Brigade were still at the merch stands, talked with the fans and let them take pictures. While Ghost Brigade haven't really given their all, Amorphis and Orphaned Land profited a lot from the great sound in the venue, with Orphaned Land being the clear winners of the night. I guess it's just a matter of time until Germany will see a tour of the Israelis as actual headliners.